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honesty

Before I went in the military (yes, ages ago) I bought a travel iron. It was around $5.00 at a local department store. I had it for years and years and it worked like a top. It had a collapsible handle and a detachable water bottle on the side. It was absolutely perfect. I had it for 16 years. Fast forward to 1988– a female relative was getting married and going on a honeymoon. She lamented in the kitchen one day she really wished she had a travel iron to take with her. Being nice, I opened my mouth. “Oh, I have one you can borrow!” When I delivered it to her, she got this glint in her eye– I could tell she really liked it. That was fine with me, I was doing a favor to a relative. Upon returning from her honeymoon, she never returned it to me. I waited a reasonable time (about 3 weeks) and thought nervously I had better say something. I explained that I ironed all the time with it and used it for small quilt projects. The happy look in her eyes disappeared. I knew I had asked her to return something she coveted. She gave it back the next time I saw her, before church on a Sunday morning. She had a glum look in her eyes and her “thank you” was said in a flat voice. Oh oh, I made Little Princess I-Am-Spoiled mad. A couple of years went by, and I went looking for my iron. I had always kept it in the same place (on top of the dryer) along with a couple other irons I used. It was nowhere to be found. I dug around the area, sure that it must have fallen off into a box. Nope, it was gone. I never said anything to anyone about this. I kept wondering where my iron was. Finally (it takes me along time to figure out mean actions) I realized I had given other family members keys to our house. This was to come over in case of emergency or if they needed baby items (they baby sat my child) while I was at work. It wouldn’t have been hard to track down my laundry area, duh, they had been in my house many many times. Princess IAS took it. She has passed away now, but I always think of what she said many times– “I hate a thief”– well she was one. I just wanted to tell my story.